Topic 3

Question 1

What issue did Germany face if it were put in a war situation

Answer 1

In working out a war plan, Count Alfred von Schlieffen had to face the possibility that Germany would have to fight a war on two fronts - against Russia in the east and France in the west.

Question 2

Describe the Schlieffen plan

Answer 2

Schlieffen believed that Russia would probably take about 6 weeks to mobilise. This would give the German army extra time to attack and defeat France. They would invade France by travelling at high speed through Belgium and northern France and attack Paris. However this did not work and it failed.

Question 3

Plan 17

Answer 3

Plan by the French to capture Alsace-Lorraine

Question 4

Why did the Schlieffen plan fail?

Answer 4

The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) slowed the Germans down for 48 hours

French armies failed to re-capture Alsace Lorraine in Plan 17 but slowed Germany down by 2 weeks

Russia mobilised quicker than Germany anticipated and they invaded eastern Germany, forcing Germany to move from the Western Front to the east to defend the eastern borders.

Germany was not strong enough to take Paris, and it swung east towards the River Marne. There, they clashed with the French forces retreating from Alsace-Loraine

Question 5

Outcome of the Schlieffen plan

Answer 5

Neither side could advance their trenches by more than a few kilometres for the next 4 years of war. There was a stalemate on the western front.

Question 6

Why was there deadlock in the trenches

Answer 6

Failure of the German Schlieffen
Strength of defences
Ineffective weapons
The mud
Lack of new tactics

Question 7

Schedule of soldiers

Answer 7

4 days spend in the front-lines, 4 days in the support trenches, and 8 days in reserve trenches and 14 days resting

Question 8

Life in the trenches

Answer 8

Very boring
Night was a time of silence and fear
Letters sent by soldiers were censored

Question 9

Dirt and disease in trenches

Answer 9

Flanders was a sea of mud

Men got trench foot from standing in the dirty mud all day long

Feet got gangrenous and amputation was needed to treat it (20,000 in the British Army alone suffered from gangrene)

Very dirty in trenches: lots of lice and rats

Question 10

Casualties in trenches

Answer 10

The fear and threat of sudden death hung over every soldier; either from a sniper or from a planned attack

Thousands were killed or wounded in every battle

No treatment to wounds - antiseptics were developed in the 1930s

Shell shock was common among soldiers

Some men were shot for deserting the battle - 346 British soldiers were shot for desertion

Question 11

Reasons why stalement was broken

Answer 11

Aircrafts
Dog fights
Machine guns
Artillery
Gas
Tanks

Question 12

Aircrafts

Answer 12

British Royal Flying Corps and Imperial German Flying Corps used planes and observation balloons as the eyes of their armies

Question 13

Dog Fights

Answer 13

Dog fights between fighter planes over the Western Front were common. By 1918, the Great Powers were, altogether, using over 10,000 planes at the front line and over 50,000 airmen had been killed.

Question 14

Machine Guns

Answer 14

Machine guns were able to kill whole battalions. They developed as well (for eg. the British Vickers Machine gun). However both the British and Germany were using similar guns, so the stalemate increased on the Western front.

Question 15

Artillery

Answer 15

The largest gun was made by Germany (Big Bertha). The British developed a fuse in 1916 that caused shells to explode, allowing them to get past barbed wires. By 1917, these fuses were used a lot on the Western Front

Question 16

Gas

Answer 16

The Germans first used poisonous gas in the second battle of Ypres. Gas was unreliable though. In damp weather, the gas would slowly move around at knee height. If the wind changed direction, soldiers could gas themselves.

This caused them to develop a gas alarm system along with gas masks

Question 17

Tanks

Answer 17

50 tanks showed up in the battle of Somme but were not useful. At the battle of Cambrai, though, more than 400 Mark IV tanks smashed their way through German trenches which pushed the Germans behind 8km in 3 days

Question 18

The Battle of Somme (July-November 1916)

Answer 18

Lasted 4 months long.
Germans knew that Britain and France would want to attack, so they were ready. When the British began crossing no man’s land, a German surprise attack suddenly occurred. Many people (620,000 allied soldiers and only 450,000 Germans) died and only 15km was advanced on the Western Front.

Question 19

The Battle of Passchendaele (July-November 1917)

Answer 19

The British were stuck in the mud due to Haig’s eagerness to continue advancing despite the thick mud. Slow progress by Britain lead the huge casualties. The allies were able to capture the village of Passchendele. 240,000 British soldiers died and 220,000 German soldiers died.

Question 20

What was General Douglas Haig called

Answer 20

‘Butcher of the Somme’ vs ‘Man who won the war’

Question 21

General Haig’s advantages and disadvantages

Answer 21

Advantages:
-Relieved the pressure on the French at Verdun by starting the Somme Offensive
-Masterminded the British victory at Messines
-Drew German forces away from the Nivelle offensive by drawing an attack on German lines

Disadvantages:
-Battle of Passchendaele resulted in huge casualties
-60,000 casualties on the first day of the battle of the Somme
-Willing to experiment with the use of tanks to break the stalemate (waste of resources)